Ahead of San Marino‘s brand new national final on 3 March, organisers have made changes to the voting system. 1 In 360 says this is in response to feedback from fans and will make the voting system simpler and involve the fan community more.

The changes were confirmed today on social media.

Three main changes have been made to the voting system. First, Zoë Straub is no longer part of the expert jury. As both she and her father Christof Straub are also involved as songwriters on some of the entries, organisers agreed with fans that it was not appropriate for her to be judging her own songs.

Secondly, the public vote will be given the same weight as the jury vote — a 50/50 split. This replaces the previous system which used a complicated proportional system based on the number of votes received.

The third change is to the way the public can vote. Under the old system, voting would have been done through a €1 online vote and/or from the crowdfunding system. Fans are able to invest in the competing songs by purchasing a small percentage of the song’s royalties.

Organisers have now scrapped the €1 online vote. Now the only way the public can vote is as part of the crowdfunding system. The minimum investment in crowdfunding of the songs is €20. There’s also a maximum of €8000 per song to prevent a contestant with deep pockets from buying their way to the top of the vote.

1 In 360 – Crowdfunding totals (as of 19 February)

The crowdfunding totals already give clues as to who the contest favourites will be. Austrian singer Sara de Blue currently leads the crowdfunding, with a total of €2160. She is followed by the Maltese singer Jessika feat. San Marino’s own IROL, who have €720. In third place, Franklin Calleja from Malta has €320.

At the other end of the scale, Camilla North, IROL feat. Basti and Tinashe Makura are yet to attract any crowdfunding for their songs.

  1. Sara de Blue – “Out of the Twilight” (€2160)
  2. Jessika feat. IROL – “Who We Are” (€720)
  3. Franklin Calleja  – “Stay” (€320)
  4. Basti  – “Stay” (€200)
  5. Giovanni Montalbano  – “Per quello che mi dai” (€200)
  6. Judah Gavra – “Stay” (€160)
  7. Jenifer Brening – “Until the Morning Light” (€120)
  8. Emma Sandström  – “Diamonds” (€80)
  9. Camilla North  – “Yo no soy tu chica” (€0)
  10. IROL feat. Basti  – “Sorry” (€0)
  11. Tinashe Makura – “Free Yourself” (€0)

What do you think of the new voting system? Will you pay €20 to support your favourite song? Who should repesent San Marino in Lisbon? Tell us what you think below!

READ MORE SAN MARINO EUROVISION NEWS HERE

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Uli
Uli
6 years ago

who is going to win the competition ?, the best singer and performer ?, or the artist who has the richest friends ?! … the artists have done a great job, especially those who have been involved in songwriting … you let them work for you, take the majority of the rights, and then you change the conditions so that possibly those who have best performed are at a disadvantage because of lack of Sponsors !? … the word dubious is not enough !…

Purple Mask
Purple Mask
6 years ago
Reply to  Uli

The result will be determined by a 50/50 split between jury and sponsors, I – I mean “audience”. (Cough)

Uli
Uli
6 years ago
Reply to  Purple Mask

… yes, with the 50/50 I’ve understood, it’s o.k …. but the thing with the sponsorship … cough … voting, something like that I’ve never experienced…

Team jenifer
Team jenifer
6 years ago
Reply to  Uli

TRUE THAT !!!

dabamba
dabamba
6 years ago
Reply to  Uli

Yes. It does not feel very fair system but i understand it helps to cover some costs.

Michaela
Michaela
6 years ago

I think it’s not good that the artists should pay for the missing money of a singing competition.
Something should be clarified in advance, the money is not available, you should not organize anything.
The whole action is unprofessionally organized.
In every country in Europe a telephone voting is organized, but you can not.
With you it is a rip off and greed.
At the expense of the artists, be ashamed !!

Where I belong
Where I belong
6 years ago

Sorry San Marino, this way of financing the preselction is simply annoying !

Josh
Josh
6 years ago

In reply to someone else’s comment, I highly doubt 1in360 will give additional support to help produce the tracks that don’t win the NF. They seem to be struggling enough with finance as it is – now they’re resorting to a crowd-funded tele-vote to pay the surplus debt? Also, is it just me or was the premise of this NF meant to be about showcasing the performances using VR? At least that’s what I thought their USP was. It is ‘1in360’ after all, maybe I am wrong. Regardless, the whole NF has exuded unprofessionalism from the moment it was launched.… Read more »

Josh
Josh
6 years ago
Reply to  Josh

*UMK17, my bad!

Josh
Josh
6 years ago
Reply to  Josh

Hiya! I totally agree with you on the fact that there should be more Sammarinese presence in front of the camera as well as behind. Whilst I’m all up for #CelebratingDiversity and giving people a chance, I was initially shocked to find out that all the Sammarinese nationals would be competing against each other for one spot instead of an even split or a smaller minority. It’s harsh. I love Irol though and his song with Jessika “Who We Are” is actually my favourite from the competition so far! I totally agree with you on him not being given a… Read more »

RTW
RTW
6 years ago

Will the song by IROL feat. Jessika – “Stuck Without You” still be produced?

How about “Free Yourself” by Camilla?

Or “Immenso Blu” by Giovanni?

Will these songs still get produced even if they didn’t get chosen for the final? I really hope so. They were amazing. Why do we need three versions of “Stay” getting produced, but not the other great songs that won’t be performed in the final.

miramax09
miramax09
6 years ago

lol, Sara de Blue has already 4320 Bucks together. Jessika, second one, 720… Although I don’t have a problem with crowdfunding, it’s kinda strange for me to use it for a voting procedure… but anyway. Televotes have fees too, which nobody pays you back ^^

SunStroke Project
SunStroke Project
6 years ago

If San Marino will send Basti, my mother-in-law will like me.

Herrey's
Herrey's
6 years ago

If San Marino will win Eurovision, I will say Diggi-Loo Diggi-Lei

Barei
Barei
6 years ago

If Emma doesn’t win I will say yay yay

NancyG
NancyG
6 years ago

This was *never* a search for the “Internet candidate”. Discarding the fraudulent voting where a few acts had like hundreds of thousands of votes, there were a good 20 people in the submission process with several thousand fair votes who got bypassed by the jury for national selection people they had secretly invited. It’s lame and rigged for the Austrian production company and presumably their preferred act.

Ell and Nikki
Ell and Nikki
6 years ago

If San Marino sends IROL I won’t run scared

Magpie
Magpie
6 years ago

Here’s an idea how about iTunes download voting?

Krista Siegfrids
Krista Siegfrids
6 years ago

If San Marino will send Basti, I will marry him.

up!
up!
6 years ago

At least it’s still without charge to comment on San Marino’s article :-)…
Nah, joke aside: I can understand why they have more focus on generating money this way than other broadcasters, but as many pointed out, it’s influencing the results in a rather unpleasant way.
I’m still crossing my fingers for Jessika and Irol, since I really love the whole package a lot.

West
West
6 years ago

Money, money, money
Must be funny
In the rich man’s world
Money, money, money
Always sunny
In the rich man’s world

I would consider voting if it was just €1. Now – nope, sorry Tinashe, sorry Emma and sorry Jenifer. I can’t help you.

Benny
Benny
6 years ago

Sergey Lazarev Is already out the closet….. he just doesn’t need to announce it, as he doesn’t need to. Straight people don’t announce they are straight, so why should people who are homosexual do so?

Loreen
Loreen
6 years ago

If San Marino doesn’t send Emma, I will make a powerful statement that will be then forgoten in televote and no one will care about the result few weeks later, but will cause a lot of drama and cringy hashtags.

Eve
Eve
6 years ago

Can I crowdfund them all to withdraw?
Cringe

Joe
Joe
6 years ago

Now see, they were funny until this one.

Escphbelgium
Escphbelgium
6 years ago

If San Marino sends Emma, I’ll be in the City Lights

Steven
Steven
6 years ago

Production Company Austrian in London
Producer Austrian
Leading Crowdfunding Austrian

This is just a joke guys and a made up thing from day one …

Artists got approached from the production company to take part in the final …. what a miracle they leading …… fans open your eyes this is all fake !!!

Benny
Benny
6 years ago
Reply to  Steven

I totally agree with you. So many people entered, and why have all the people entered been mostly Eurovision National Finalist alumni? Seriously, this was a fix from the start! I am annoyed, as my friend entered and he was amazing but was overlooked, as he did not have a strong social media presence.

Steven
Steven
6 years ago
Reply to  Benny

then they change the rules during the process…… the youtube channel got blocked because of copyright claims … very professional lol…. they announce people on the judging panel and they gone and got changed with new people….. the head of delegation and Zoe as judges who got clear conflict of interest ….. I feel sorry for Valentina Monetta to see all this ….but the rudest thing is to start crowdfunding … if you not able to finance the whole thing leave it….. The truth would to say we are an Austrian company and we have an Austrian team so we… Read more »

Hada
Hada
6 years ago
Reply to  Steven

And they could’ve just internally selected Sarah DeBlue ft. IROL, no one would’ve said a thing. But they had to get greedy.

Matt
Matt
6 years ago

I think that San Marino will end up sending a good act, but I am really not happy with how they’re going about it. Constantly changing rules and all that. Plus I really despise this newest change. Especially considering that one of the singers is apparently already leading the “televote” by a significant margin. I mean, Sara de Blue is my personal favorite too, but it’s still a bit unfair.

Mark
Mark
6 years ago

SARA DE BLUE for the win.

Marcus (Day One)
Marcus (Day One)
6 years ago

So basically the voting is now even more expensive. What happens if they only get like 30 votes? Does that still mean a 50/50 split or will they just decide to reduce the split? At first 1in360 seemed like such a clever national selection but it now seems like they just need money to pay off the judges, venues etc. The whole selection process now just seems overly complicated and stupid. I very much doubt it will be used again and I imagine a lot of singers wouldn’t have entered if the rules were published before the artist accepted their… Read more »

brennan
brennan
6 years ago

this ‘voting’ system is so uncomfortable wow way to tarnish what was otherwise a great national final

The Anders
The Anders
6 years ago

Hm, can I actually comment on this article?

The Anders
The Anders
6 years ago
Reply to  The Anders

Only if I omit some words perhaps. I really wonder what I would be letting myself into if I chose to vote – and pay – in this NF. Sharing royalties? It sounds […] to me to say the least.

The Anders
The Anders
6 years ago
Reply to  The Anders

Continuing: No thanks. I am totally against doing it this way. What if the Eurovision result was decided by people paying 10-20 dollars for a song?

Nikos
Nikos
6 years ago

I might be in the minority here, but especially with the song releases lately from other countries, I am starting to think SF1 is harder than SF2.
SF2 might have more “always” qualifiers, but they are more vulnerable than ever this year, especially Russia. SF1 has a lot of “this country hasn’t done as well lately, but looks promising” entries. 🙂

San Marino could strategically pick Jessika ft. Irol for example, and get those high points from Malta and Italy. An easy boost of up to 24 points would be huge for someone like San Marino!

Elainovision
Elainovision
6 years ago

God, I miss Serhat.

Alex
Alex
6 years ago
Reply to  Elainovision

His eyes never told you lies

ImpressiveInstants
ImpressiveInstants
6 years ago

wtf is this lol

Polyna
Polyna
6 years ago

So basically they made it even scammier than it was.

Héctor
Héctor
6 years ago

Moneeey moneeey! That’s all they want. The televote isn’t very representative so it loses its logic of existance…

Jo
Jo
6 years ago

It’s going to be really hard for San Marino in semifinal 2. I hope they don’t give up if they don’t make it, the delegation is finally going in the right direction.

suuperman
suuperman
6 years ago

I can’t afford this anymore. Must suck for most of the performers to virtually already know the result heading into the show.

Joe
Joe
6 years ago
Reply to  suuperman

Don’t lose hope yet. San Marino have shown they can make the final, and the batch of songs here is better than anything they’ve ever actually sent before. Relying on contemporary composers as opposed to one who hasn’t written a decent Eurovision entry since 1999 give them all a lot more life. And San Marino has kept chugging along even with all the non-qualifications, so I’m hopeful they’ll keep it up.

suuperman
suuperman
6 years ago
Reply to  Joe

I just mean I can’t afford to vote for anything, and the performers outside the top 3 aren’t going to have much to perform for during the final…

Joe
Joe
6 years ago
Reply to  suuperman

Oh ok, that’s true. Poor Tinashe.

Briekimchi
Briekimchi
6 years ago

Interesting way of making a decision. San Marino continue to think outside of the box this year. Can’t argue with the results though. Whatever happens, they are going to end up with a song much better than what they usually send.

Purple Mask
Purple Mask
6 years ago
Reply to  Briekimchi

Well, except for 2008. (Miodio – “Complice”) Underrated.

Miguel
Miguel
6 years ago

Woohoo! Sara is leadind the votes!
I will also be happy with Jessika feat IROL.

But this crowdfunding system seems a bit obscure. The winner is who pays the most….

KESC
KESC
6 years ago

Sara de Blue or Emma Sandström of course. The other entries are not even worth to mention.

JJJ
JJJ
6 years ago
Reply to  KESC

If you think that Emma is one of the best the other acts need to be highly mentioned

Sokratis Lakrindis
Sokratis Lakrindis
6 years ago

Can I crowdfund them all to just can this process altogether?

Purple Mask
Purple Mask
6 years ago

Even out the outcome so that it’s a draw? You’d have to be very good at maths. And slightly rich.

Purple Mask
Purple Mask
6 years ago

I’m a bit lost over the whole “crowdfunding” deal. If money goes toward someone who doesn’t win, then where does that money go after that? To the eventual winner?

Joe
Joe
6 years ago
Reply to  Purple Mask

A flight back to wherever they came from, maybe? I mean, Italy isn’t too far away, but going to Slovakia from Israel or Zimbabwe can’t be cheap.

Purple Mask
Purple Mask
6 years ago
Reply to  Joe

Haha! Oh dear. 🙂
I would hope the money would either go towards something useful, or be sent back to the voters somehow.

It’s rather extraordinary to have a crowdunding system for Eurovision, but it’s also a lot more transparent than premium charged phone calls to a BBC number (in UK), for example, when you don’t really know the outcome of the vote.
Problem is, the 8,000 minimum limit may not be enough for Season 1 of this contest – 8,000 may be all that the winner needs to buy their way! We shall see.

Joe
Joe
6 years ago

I’d be perfectly happy with either of the top 2, possibly more so with Jessika and Irol but Sara de Blue would be a perfectly respectable entry as well. Either would be a song San Marino could be proud of. We’re all rooting for you San Marino!

I’m sad to see Tinashe Makura doing so badly though – he never really had a chance but his song is very pleasant and happy. Plus, he’d be cool to submit since he’s the only one from a country (Zimbabwe) that doesn’t compete in Eurovision.

Rory
Rory
6 years ago

LOL at the way how this works (with the crowdfunding).

For real? Hahah

Zolipop
Zolipop
6 years ago

Great! Sara de Blue all the way! 🙂